Francesco Zabarella (10 August 1360 – 26 September 1417) was an Italian

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

and

canonist Canon law (from , , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical jurisdiction, ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its membe ...

Appointment as bishop

Born in

Padua Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of 20 ...

, he studied jurisprudence at

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

and at

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

, where he graduated in 1385. He taught

Canon law Canon law (from , , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical jurisdiction, ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its membe ...

at Florence until 1390 and at Padua until 1410. Having taken

minor orders In Christianity, minor orders are ranks of church ministry. In the Catholic Church, the predominating Latin Church formerly distinguished between the major orders—priest (including bishop), deacon and subdeacon—and four minor orders— acolyt ...

in 1385, he became vicar of bishop Acciajuoli of Florence and pastor at the Church of Santa Maria in Pruncta near Florence. In 1398 he was made archpriest of the cathedral at Padua. The Paduan Government repeatedly employed him on diplomatic missions, and towards the end of 1404, he was one of two ambassadors sent to King Charles VI of

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

to obtain the latter's assistance against

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

, which was preparing to annex Padua. When Padua had become part of the Venetian Republic in 1406, Zabarella became a loyal supporter of Venice. In 1409 he took part in the

Council of Pisa The Council of Pisa (; , also nicknamed the , "secret meeting", by those who considered it illegitimate) was a controversial council held in 1409. It attempted to end the Western Schism by deposing both Benedict XIII (Avignon) and Gregory XII ...

as councilor of the Venetian legate. On 18 July 1410,

Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII (born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death on 3 June 1963. He is the most recent pope to take ...

appointed him bishop of Florence and papal referendary, and on 6 June 1411, he made him the

Cardinal Deacon A cardinal is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. As titular members of the clergy of the Diocese of Rome, they serve as advisors to the pope, who is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. C ...

of the ''Titular church of Santi Cosma e Damiano ''.

Other ventures

His most important literary production is an ecclesiastic-political treatise, ''De schismate'' (Strasburg, 1515). It consists of independent portions, written at different intervals from 1403 to 1408, and contains various suggestions for ending the schism. Zabarella's chief writings in canon law are (with examples of editions): *''Lectura super Clementinis'' (Naples, 1471) *''Commentarius in libros Decretalium'' (Venice, 1502) *''Consilia'' (Venice, 1581) Also attributed to him but in need of verification: *''De felicitate libri III'' (Padua, 1655) *''De arte metrica'' *''De natura rerum diversarum'' *''De corpore Christi'' A large number of his letters are in the

Österreichische Nationalbibliothek The Austrian National Library (, ) is the largest library in Austria, with more than 12 million items in its various collections. The library is located in the Neue Burg Wing of the Hofburg in center of Vienna. Since 2005, some of the collection ...

of Vienna, Cod. Lat. 5513. In some, Zabarella is referred to by the title ''Cardinalis'' In

music history Music history, sometimes called historical musicology, is a highly diverse subfield of the broader discipline of musicology that studies music from a historical point of view. In theory, "music history" could refer to the study of the history of ...

, Zabarella is noted as the patron of the composer

Johannes Ciconia Johannes Ciconia ( – between 10 June and 13 July 1412) was an important Franco-Flemish composer and music theorist of trecento music during the late Medieval era. He was born in Liège, but worked most of his adult life in Italy, parti ...

. Ciconia complimented Zabarella in song, by composing a three-voice

isorhythm Isorhythm (from the Greek for "the same rhythm") is a musical technique using a repeating rhythmic pattern, called a ''talea'', in at least one voice part throughout a composition. ''Taleae'' are typically applied to one or more melodic patterns o ...

motet In Western classical music, a motet is mainly a vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from high medieval music to the present. The motet was one of the preeminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to the Eng ...

in his honor, ''Doctorum Principem/Melodia Suavissima/Vir Mitis'', surviving in the manuscript Bologna Q15.

Later career

Though he never received major orders, he was one of the most active and influential cardinals of the ''Antipope'' John XXIII, whose interests he supported at the

Council of Rome The Council of Rome was a synod which took place in Rome in AD 382, under the leadership of Pope Damasus I, the then-bishop of Rome. The only surviving conciliar pronouncement may be the that contains a canon of Scripture, which supposedly was is ...

(1412–13). When this council failed to end the lamentable schism, John XXIII sent the cardinals Zabarella and De Challant as legates to King Sigismund (son of Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV, and emperor after 1433) at Como in October, 1413, with full powers to come to an understanding with the latter concerning the place and time for holding a new council. It was arranged to open the new council at Constance on 1 November 1414, where Zabarella was one of the chief supporters of John XXIII. When the latter fled from Constance 20 March 1415, in order to thwart the election of a new pope, Zabarella remained as his representative. It was chiefly through his influence that John XXIII finally resigned the papacy unconditionally in April, 1415. Nevertheless, the

Council of Constance The Council of Constance (; ) was an ecumenical council of the Catholic Church that was held from 1414 to 1418 in the Bishopric of Constance (Konstanz) in present-day Germany. This was the first time that an ecumenical council was convened in ...

continued its proceedings against John, and commissioned Zabarella with four other cardinals to inform him of his suspension, and later of his formal deposition by the council. In the proceedings against the Avignonese

Pope Benedict XIII Pope Benedict XIII (; ; 2 February 1649 – 21 February 1730), born Pietro Francesco (or Pierfrancesco) Orsini and later called Vincenzo Maria Orsini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 29 May 1724 to his death in ...

, Zabarella proposed, at the session held 28 November 1416, that Benedict be cited before the council. He also took part in the proceedings of the council against Huss, Jerome of Prague, and Jean Petit. His attempts to induce the two former to sign a softened form of retraction proved useless. From April till the end of July he sought to regain health and strength at a neighbouring watering place. On 28 July he was again at Constance, and up to the time of his death exerted all his influence to hasten the election of a new pope. He is buried in the cathedral at Padua.

Works

* ''De schismate'', Strasbourg, 1515. * ''Lectura super Clementinis'', Naples, 1471. * ''Commentaria in quinque libros decretalium'', Venice, 1502. ** ** ** ** ** * ''Consilia juris'' ** * ''De felicitate libri III'', Padua, 1655. * ''De arte metrica'' * ''De natura rerum diversarum'' * ''De corpore Christi'' * ''Commentarium in Clementinas'' * ''Repetitiones''

References

Sources

* * Thomas E. Morrissey, ''Conciliarism and Church Law in the Fifteenth Century'', Farnham: Variorum, 2014. * Dieter Girgensohn, ''Francesco Zabarella aus Padua'', Wien: Böhlau, 1993.

External links

* ;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Zabarella, Francesco 1360 births 1417 deaths University of Bologna alumni University of Florence alumni Clergy from Padua Canon law jurists 15th-century Italian cardinals 15th-century Italian Roman Catholic bishops 14th-century Italian Roman Catholic priests Bishops of Florence 14th-century Italian jurists 15th-century Italian jurists 15th-century writers in Latin